Self-Contained -
Fossil is a single self-contained stand-alone executable.
To install, simply download a
precompiled binary
for Linux, Mac, OpenBSD, or Windows and put it on your $PATH.
Easy-to-compile source code is also available.

Simple Networking -
No custom protocols or TCP ports.
Fossil uses ordinary HTTP (or HTTPS or SSH)
for network communications, so it works fine from behind
restrictive firewalls, including proxies.
The protocol is
bandwidth efficient to the point that Fossil can be
used comfortably over dial-up or over the exceedingly slow Wifi on
airliners.

CGI/SCGI Enabled - No server is required, but if you want to
set one up, Fossil supports four easy
server configurations.

Robust & Reliable -
Fossil stores content using an enduring file format
in an SQLite database so that transactions are
atomic even if interrupted by a power loss or system crash.
Automatic self-checks verify that all aspects of
the repository are consistent prior to each commit.